Date: 31 August & 1 September 2018
Theme: Oxfordshire
This year our theme was Oxfordshire featuring beers from the county of Oxford.
Awards
Beers
- Winner: Tap Social Movement – Big Boy Pants 3.8%
- Second: Oxbrew – Bean Counter 4.0%
- Third: Barn Owl – Old Scruttock’s Dirigible 5.2%
Ciders
- Winner: Harry’s – Scrummage Cider – 6.2%
- Second: Napton Cidery – Blackcurrent Blush 4.0%
- Third: Millwhites – Raspberry Fat & Fruity 4.0%
Entertainment
Hereburgh Morris on Saturday afternoon
Saturday evening.
- Vague Brothers
- Dr C Trio. Acoustic set with crowd sing-along songs
- Spitfire. Some good ol’ rock music
Beers
| BREWERY | BEER | ABV | STYLE | TASTING NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amwell Spring | Easy Geez | 4.5 | Bitter | A perfectly balanced amber ale. Its gentle piney and subtle citrus aromas with malty caramel tones throughout make this a new born classic |
| Amwell Spring | Mad Gaz | 5.2 | IPA | A genuine IPA, stacked full of grapefruit and resinous flavours, floral aroma with a refreshing bitter finish gives Mad Gaz the edge |
| Barn Owl | Old Scruttock's Dirigible | 5.2 | Porter | A strong dark ale with a velvety maltiness and rich plum and blackcurrant flavour. |
| Bell Street | Brakspear Special | 4.3 | Best Bitter | A truly classic English beer that's golden red in colour with a well balanced aroma and a hint of sweetness. Full bodied, the initial sweetness gives way to a dry hop bitterness. |
| Bellingers | Summer Ale | 3.7 | Pale Ale | A light and refreshing session beer with soft nutty, toffee malts and a late bitterness. |
| Bellingers | Arnhem | 4.4 | Bitter | Copper coloured bitter with balanced Admiral hops and subtle roasted notes. |
| Bellingers | Stirling | 6 | Brown Ale | A malty brown ale with sweet nutty flavour. Brewed with English hops. |
| Brakspear | Oxford Gold | 4 | Golden | Brakspear Oxford Gold is a remarkably zesty brew, with fresh, citrussy aromas and a firm, fruity flavour. Fuggles; Goldings and styrian hops are used. Pale ale malts provide the beer with its gold-gilt shimmer, spruced by a hatful of crystal malts to give body, texture and a delicate honeyed wrap. |
| Chadlington | Oxford Blue | 4.2 | Pale Ale | Oxford Blue is golden in colour, superbly balanced with a refreshingly clean and citrus finish. |
| Church Hanbrewery | RAUK | 5 | Smoked | Undeniably different, Rauk is our signature smoked beer that is packed with fun and excitement. The beer malt is delicately smoked, then infused with noble hops with pine and floral notes. An English beer with German accent, this ale is inspired by the Rauchbier (smoked lager) from Bamberg. |
| Church Hanbrewery | Wildbeeries | 5 | Fruit | A wild beer made with wild berries. Its recipe is constantly changing because we always use the best berries available. Although the proportion and range of berries can vary from batch to batch, we promise each batch will be delicious. |
| Church Hanbrewery | 1 4 Keeps | 6 | Bierre de Garde | 1 4 Keeps (One For Keeps) is a characterful ale of French origin. The dark amber colour, the moderate body, the pleasant malty sweetness, and the light hop bitterness, lift the unmistakeable yeast character. |
| Hook Norton | Mild | 2.8 | Mild | A dark chestnut coloured ale, full of roast malt flavours, and complemented with superb dry-hop aromas from English Goldings. |
| Hook Norton / Yeastie Boys Collaboration | X Ale | 4.8 | Golden Ale | Pale gold with aromas of zesty lime, satsuma and passion fruit, and a dark fruit taste, with a hint of spicy lemon zest, X Ale re-imagine the century-old recipe with a dose of artistic licence. |
| Hook Norton | Crafty Fox | 4.8 | Black IPA | This shouldn't work but we think it does. India Pale Ale heady hoppy fruit flavours combine with the darkness of stout. But can you really have a Pale Black Ale? |
| Little Ox | Goldilox | 3.9 | Golden | Goldilox is a very pale golden session ale, made with the best pale and pilsner malts and bursting with massive whole hop flavours of zesty fruits and a rounded lingering bitterness. A perfect summertime thirst quencher that we like to think is sunshine in a glass. |
| Little Ox | Yabba dabba doo | 4.8 | IPA | bags of floral and tropical fruit notes but low in bitterness, great summer brew |
| Loddon | Notus | 4.7 | APA | This 4.7% hop-fest won a number of awards following its launch. Brewed with citra, centennial, sterling, azacca and wai-iti hops, NOTUS is tropical, fruity and delicious. It packs a punch, as well as offering perfect late summer refreshment. |
| Loddon | Forbury Lion | 5.5 | IPA | An IPA as an IPA should be: packed with a full malty flavour and a strong complex hop finish imparted by Styrian Goldings and Fuggles. |
| Loose Cannon | Gunners Gold | 3.5 | A golden coloured session beer. An initial light peach aroma on the nose which then transfers to the palate with a satisfying crisp finish. | |
| Loose Cannon | Un-Controllable | 3.8 | Mild | Well balanced malty beer with the mild hop and Red hue, an easy drinking thirst quenching bitter that's perfect for all occasions. |
| Loose Cannon | Abingdon Bridge | 4.1 | bitter | Traditional with a modern twist. Their first and still most popular brew. A copper hue belies the floral aroma of this thirst quenching beer. Smooth malty notes with a balanced hoppy finish |
| Loose Cannon | Bombshell | 4.2 | Pale Ale | The perfect beer for a warm summers day. The use of only pale malts really allows the hop's unique citrus flavour to shine unabated. Thirst-quenching and tasty. |
| Lovebeer | Bonnie Hops | 4.6 | Pale Ale | This is a crisp golden coloured ale made with pale malted barley. We selected 4 of the 'big dog' hops from the USA to bring out huge citrus and floral flavours which make your taste buds tingle. Enjoy. |
| Lovebeer | Mild Rover | 5.1 | Mild | Dark in colour, this real ale has five different barley malts including a Carafa special mix to give caramal; toffee and coffee aromas and taste. Very light, late hops give just a hint of floral flavouring. |
| Lovebeer | Montys Gem | 5.6 | Pale Ale | Monty's Gem is an English Pale Ale style beer which has true depth of flavour and balance. Made with traditional pale malted barley, the base hops are from Kent but we have added some new world late hops to give a lovely smooth finish and hints of orange or possibly barley sugar. |
| Lovebeer | Purdey Peculier | 5.4 | Stout | This is a handcrafted English real ale made from natural malted barley but with an additional measure of chocolate malt. This gives the lovely dark colour and aroma but without the heaviness of a stout. The whole hops used are a mix of traditional English and American to give a smooth flavourful finish. |
| Oxbrew | Bean Counter | 4 | Stout | A collaboration between OXBREW & Tap Social Movement. Rich and roasty coffee beans from The Missing Bean Coffee Roastery infused using cold brew into a beautiful stout. |
| Oxbrew | Red | 5 | Strong Ale | Deep, rich and fully hopped with flavours from the US and NZ hops. A seriously intense, but well-rounded flavour. This is a beer with character and complexity - Please enjoy! |
| Philsters | Haseley Gold | 4.1 | Golden | Golden ale with balanced bitterness and distinctive spicy, floral, pine and honey flavours from English; Northdown, Challenger and East Kent Golding hops. Our first ale and not bad for a first attempt. Slightly tweaked recipe in 2017. |
| Philsters | Haseley Rising | 4.5 | Red Ale | Pale ale with citrus aroma and an earthy hop hit from the Chinook, Jester, Oilcana and Citra hops. |
| Shotover | Prospect | 3.7 | bitter | Prospect is a session bitter. Though comparatively low in alcohol this beer is made with more malted barley than many 4%+ABV beers and is packed with a combination of English and new world hops to give a surprisingly big mouthfeel and a striking dry hoppiness that is very moreish. A classic pale copper English bitter colour, |
| Shotover | Trinity | 4.2 | Pale Ale | Trinity is a pale gold beer with a big hop aroma and an intense citrus hop character that lingers wonderfully on the palate. Trinity is hopped in multiple stages and then dry hopped again after fermentation to produce a remarkable, dry, intensely hoppy beer. Named for summer term at the University of Oxford, Trinity was originally launched as a summer beer but has proved so popular it is now available all year round in cask and bottle. |
| Shotover | Hop-haze | 4.7 | Pale Ale | A refreshing and well balanced double dry hopped extra pale ale. It's low bitterness and light body accentuates the hops making this a delicious beer to enjoy on a summer's day. |
| Tap Social Movement | Big Boy Pants | 3.8 | Sour | Big Boy Pants is a farmhouse sour ale with tart grapefruit flavour and aroma and low bitterness. The acidity in Big Boy Pants is derived from lactic, acetic and other organic acids naturally developed with acidulated malt in the mash. It's a great sour beer for those who haven't tried one before the low ABV and high carbonation make this a very refreshing session sour ale. |
| Tap Social Movement | Get your Hops off | 5.1 | IPA | This is an american style IPA which has a medium bitterness with a big peach mango and passion fruit flavour and aroma. It has just won gold at the Buckingham beer festival |
| Turpin | Golden Citrus | 4.2 | Golden | Award winning pale golden ale steeped with Yakima Valley American hops for a powerful citrus taste. |
| White Horse | Wayland Smithy | 4.4 | Best Bitter | The power of the blacksmith is legendary, and this beer combines the best ingredients money can buy with the skills of the traditional brewer to create a hammering good beer. Red, like the fire at its heart, and balanced with buckets of aromatic hops, it's enough to give other brewers the hump. |
| White Horse | Colt 45 | 4.5 | APA | In this world there are two types of colt! One is a gun, the other a young male horse. But now there is a third, White horse colt, this kicking, hoppy, punchy pale ale is made with the finest English malt and great American hops Cascade/Willamette/Galena. We hope you like it as much as we enjoy brewing it. |
| Wychwood | Hobgoblin Gold | 4.2 | Golden | Hobgoblin Gold is the latest beer carrying the little fella's monika and while Gold may be lighter in colour it is deffinitely no lightweight. A combination of four hop varieties and an infusion of wheat and malted barley has resulted in the perfect golden beer with a huge hop punch. |
Ciders & Perries
| MAKER | NAME | TYPE | ABV | TASTING NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossmans | Medium Sweet Cider | Medium/Sweet | 6.00 | Winner of the "Fuelled by cider" Cider Festival 2015 "Best Medium Cider People's Choice Award". Traditional cider made with bitter sweet apples such as Michelin, Fredericks, Stoke Red, Yarlington Mill and Dabinetts. These apples give this medium cider a classic traditional taste. |
| Harry's | Scrummage Cider | Medium | 6.20 | Medium farmhiouse cider awarded gold at CAMRA's national cider and perry championships. Described by the judges as "a sharp but easy drinking cider that stretches to a lingering and pleasant aftertaste" |
| Millwhites | Hedgelayer | Medium | 4.80 | My father tells a story of a hedgelayer who would take 24 pints of cider in a stone jar to work daily, just for refreshment, all before going to the pub in the evening! This medium cider, light and refreshing, pays homage to that legendary gentleman. |
| Millwhites | Blackberry Blush | Midim/Dry | 4.00 | Orchards full of apples and hedgerows full of blackberries led us to one thought. A late summer cider, now available year round made with a blend of our Original Scrumpy and blushed with blackberry juice. Cider and black the natural way. |
| Millwhites | Raspberry Fat & Fruity | Fruit | 4.00 | This cider blends their Original Scrumpy with a dash of sweet raspberry juice creating an easy drinking fruit cider |
| Millwhites | Dry Scrumpy | Dry | 6.50 | Traditional golden cider made from 100% pressed juice from cider apples harvested across the West Country. Packed with flavour, this is the type of cider I remember watching my father and grandfather make every autumn on their farm in Devon. Back then cider making was kept as simple as possible so we felt no reason to complicate the matter with this proper cider. |
| Napton Cidery | Jolly Nice | Medium/Sweet | 5.60 | Full bodied, amber in colour, notes of citrus, sweet finish. Made with a blend of mid to late season cider apples. |
| Nempnets | Piglet's Choice | Perry | 6.50 | A previous winner at Harbury. This perry has just been awarded gold at CAMRA's national cider and perry championships. The judges saying it was "a well balanced perry with a clean, fruity taste". Made from 100 year old trees. |
| Olivers | Perry | Perry | 6.00 | Natural pear sweetness. Fruity and refreshing. Silver medal winner. |
| West Croft | Janets Jungle Juice | Medium | 6.00 | Last years cider of the festival. In 1997, 2007 and 2015 voted Champion cider of britian by CAMRA at the great british beer festival. West Croft Cider is one of the very few pure juice, craft cider makers left in the Country. |